Forever Mourning
by N. Harmonik
Summary: SEGA Sonicverse. Amy wonders why Sonic avoids her whenever possible and gets an answer she wasn't expecting at all...


I think everyone has been picking on Sonic too much when it comes to his treatment of Amy lately so I devised a little theory as to why he would act that way. Besides, it sure beats yet another Sonic-yells-at-Amy-who-gets-comforted-by-Shadow fic; those have gotten way old.

Forever Mourning

By N. Harmonik

There he was.

There the sleeping, handsome, blue hedgehog was, using the grass as a mattress and a tree for a pillow. His legs were swung over each other and his hands were behind his spines, clutching a grey Chaos Emerald protectively.

Amy's first instinct, upon sighting Sonic, was to shriek out his name and hug him. She repressed it though, recalling that he had just fought off another of Eggman's crazy contraptions and needed a well-deserved rest.

Smiling, the pink hedgehog looked at him dreamily. "Oh Sonic… You look so cute, sleeping there! How can I let you nap by yourself?"

With that, she lay down beside him, nuzzled her head into the crook of his arm and sighed contentedly, imagining that, instead of lying in the shade of a tree, they were relaxing on a blanket out in the sunshine on a beach.

Amy let herself wonder about a few things; such as why Sonic tended to avoid her unless absolutely necessary. Did he not care about her feelings? Was he scared of settling down and starting a family some day? Was saving the world the only responsibility he wanted? These thoughts saddened and frustrated her.

Eventually, however, the warmth of the day lulled Amy to sleep as well. Yet, just before her eyelids fully closed, the Chaos Emerald seemed to glow a little bit brighter…

* * *

Amy blinked. What had just happened? One minute, she was lying down next to her hero, the next minute, she was standing in an unrecognizable room. Looking around, she saw wallpaper patterned with green hills, a dresser with various clothes sticking out, an open toy chest with cars and dinosaurs inside and a lump the size of a child hidden underneath some sheets and blankets in a bed.

"Oh!" stated Amy in surprise when she heard a small snore coming from the bed and backed off slightly. How in the world did she manage to get into a kid's bedroom? Did she somehow use Chaos Control with that Chaos Emerald? Before she could ask herself any more questions, the door opened out of the corner of her eye.

Amy turned her head and was stunned speechless, for the person who stood in the doorway looked quite a bit like herself! Female hedgehog, pink fur, green eyes; the differences were that this stranger looked a bit older, her fur and eye colours were a bit off, she was wearing a mauve dress and had no accessories in her longer hair-like quills.

Just as Amy realized that this look-a-like didn't seem to be aware of her presence, her smile widened and the strange hedgehog walked right through her! Amy blinked thrice then whirled around in time to see the other hedgehog gently shake the sleeping form.

"Wake up, Sonny Nicholas."

A small head emerged from underneath the covers and Amy gasped. While there were a few subtle yet important differences between her and the older hedgehog, the child who had been sleeping, except for being much younger, looked exactly like Sonic!

The male blue hedgehog yawned cavernously and opened his green eyes, looking straight up at the look-a-like with a content smile. "Good morning, Judith."

"Good morning, Sonny Nicholas." Brushing some loose strands of fur out of his face with a gentle caress, Judith then asked, "What does my little brother want for breakfast?"

Little brother? Amy Rose thought she _did_ seem to be a bit young to have a kid that old.

Sonny Nicholas sat up, revealing yellow and red striped pyjamas under the covers. His brow furrowed cutely as he thought long and hard about the important question he had been asked. "…Pancakes and apple juice!"

Judith grinned impudently and wagged a finger. "What's the magic word?"

Blushing slightly, Sonny Nicholas muttered, "Please?"

"I didn't hear you."

"Pretty please?" Sonny Nicholas said loudly.

"There you go." She poked his nose gently, causing him to giggle, stood up in satisfaction and walked out.

The kid got up and began taking his pyjamas off. Not wanting to intrude on his privacy, however invisible she was, Amy followed Judith in wonder.

Out in the hallway, Amy noticed photographs on the walls and stopped to look them over. In most of them was Judith at various stages in her life. Sonny Nicholas was also in some of them, sometimes as a baby, sometimes as a toddler and sometimes at the age he was at the moment. But in only the ones in which Judith was younger and Sonny Nicholas was an infant could two similar-looking adults be found.

Before she could ponder this further, Amy was startled by a loud clatter of dishes coming from the direction that Judith went. She resumed walking down the hallway.

Emerging into a small yet homey kitchen, Amy saw Judith at the stove, already flipping pancakes. Just then, Sonny Nicholas (now wearing an orange t-shirt, white socks and sneakers) came running into the room and plopped himself onto a chair at the table, his draft causing the curtains and tablecloth to flutter a little.

Judith made a disapproving sound and turned around. "What have I said about running inside the house?"

"Um..." murmured the child, looking so adorable while deep in thought that Amy wanted to squeeze him. "'Don't do it or you'll prob'ly knock over and break valu'ble stuff'?"

"That's right." Judith set down the pair of plates of pancakes at the two places on the table then went to the fridge.

"What _is_ 'valu'ble', Judith?" asked Sonny Nicholas as he poured liberal amounts of maple syrup onto his food, much to Amy's amusement.

His big sister looked vaguely surprised as she got the juice carton from the refrigerator. "Well, 'valuable' means…" Judith paused as she appeared to search for words that a young kid would be able to comprehend. "…it means…something that there is only one of or…very few…and that is one of the best things in the world."

The young hedgehog seemed to think about this for a moment then said, "Like you?"

Amy and Judith both guffawed, the latter almost spilling the apple juice as she poured it into two glasses and set them down on the table. "Yes… Yes, I guess I am! And so are you, my little brother!"

And she picked up Sonny Nicholas, turned him upside down and proceeded to tickle him into submission. Their laughter was so contagious that Amy ended up feeling as happy as the siblings and even attempted to join in the tickling, as immaterial and mystified as she still was.

Eventually, their hunger got the better of them and the siblings sat down to their modest but filling breakfast, talking all the while. Amy listened to their conversation with interest.

"After breakfast, can we please go to the park, Judith?"

The big sister sipped from her glass and smiled. "Yes, Sonny Nicholas. But remember what I said about the slides."

"Um…" His adorably thoughtful expression appeared again though it was soon replaced with a cheeky grin. "'Don't use your feet, use your butt'?"

Both Judith and Amy laughed. "No, it's 'Slides are for sliding, not grinding,' you silly boy!"

"I'm also gonna make a giant sand castle in the sand box for you, Judith!" stated the boy, spreading his arms apart for emphasis. "Then you can live in it and be a queen!"

"And what if it rains?"

"I'll make a giant umbrella too!"

Grinning, Judith took another bite of pancake and casually glanced outside the window.

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in surprise.

To Amy's surprise, she hurriedly grabbed Sonny Nicholas and shoved him inside the cupboard underneath the sink, shushing his protests with a terse, "Shhh! _He's_ coming!"

That was all that was needed to be said to quiet the child down.

Shutting it securely, she put Sonny Nicholas' dishes in the sink and commenced washing away the evidence that indicated they had recently been eaten off of. Someone suddenly hit the door loudly, which made Amy jump.

**Wham, wham!**

"Come on, Judith, sweet babe, open up! I know you're in there!"

A final bang and the door swung inward violently, revealing who had been kicking it down: a smirking, handsome, light blue, male hedgehog who was dressed in black leather from head to toe and had tattoos sporting coarse language all over his arms and legs.

Judith calmly finished wiping Sonny Nicholas' plate and turned around, frowning. "What are you doing here, Harley?"

His smirk widened. "What do you think, Judith? I've come to see if you're ready to get back with me again." Amy found herself gasping as he revealed, from behind his back, a stunning bouquet of flowers of every colour imaginable.

Amy thought they were beautiful; Judith, on the other hand, looked less than impressed. "I know a certain grave those would look good on."

Harley flinched uneasily as he walked in. "Ouch. So you've heard about that, huh? But it was an accident, I swear!"

Judith shuffled sideways, keeping the counter to her back. "If it was just an 'accident' then why don't you just tell the police that instead of avoiding them and leaving them to figure out who did it?" she retorted bitterly.

Needless to say, Amy was quite alarmed and a little afraid.

Sighing, Harley shook his head. "Now you know I can't do that, Judith. These flowers are the latest things I've stolen. Come on, let's take a ride on the wild side, just like old times!"

Judith discreetly moved her hands behind her back where Amy saw them reach for the telephone and dial something, her words blocking out the beeps. "I can't. Sonny Nicholas should be back any minute now and I can't let him come home to an empty house."

The light blue hedgehog looked skyward in resignation and leaned against the table. "Sheesh, it's always 'Sonny Nicholas' this and 'Sonny Nicholas' that - did I ever tell you how weird it is that you call him by his first and middle name? And how many times do I have to tell you, babe; there's this thing called an or-phan-age! You permanently put bratty kids in it so you're free to do whatever you want."

Amy frowned; she was not liking this guy's disposition.

"And how many times do _I_ have to tell _you?!" _yelled Judith. "I promised my parents I would take care of my brother if anything were to happen to them and I intend to uphold that promise."

"Sheesh! Keeping some dead folks' promise?" He rolled his eyes again. "If people in real life did that…"

Judith interrupted, "If helping others is what real life is like, I'll take it over a false life any day! Ugh, you see? It's because of your attitude that I broke up with you! I thought I could change you back to the sweet, caring boy you used to be when we were little but I was wrong. I might have been willing to give you another chance if you hadn't done what you did that night but you did and, because of that, someone's dead!"

Shrugging, Harley tossed the bouquet into a nearby garbage can. "You just have no idea how much fun you've been missing out on. Come here, you!"

With that, he grabbed Judith and proceeded to smother her with smooches, much to Amy's disbelief and despite his ex-girlfriend's protests.

"No, ugh, let go of me, Harley!"

At that moment, Sonny Nicholas leapt out from his hiding place and shoved Harley away from his sibling angrily, shouting, "You leave my sister alone, ya big bully!"

Harley stumbled back in shock and tripped over a chair, falling onto his bottom on the hard linoleum with a cry of pain. Amy couldn't help but grin. Harley stared at the defiantly glaring kid for a few seconds then his surprise turned into rage as he rapidly stood up, drawing a knife from his pants pocket and causing Amy's eyes to widen in terror.

"You little brat! I'll show you!" He lunged at the small hedgehog.

"No!" Instinctively, Amy ran in front of Sonny Nicholas, her arms spread apart.

Thus, the knife was plunged through Amy's chest.

It took a second or two for Amy to realize she was not hurt. Looking down, she saw Harley's wrist apparently stuck in her body. Feeling a mixture of dread and revulsion, she turned around.

There was Judith with so strong a look of shock and pain on her face, it brought tears to Amy's eyes. Her hands were clutching the little part of the knife that was not embedded in her abdomen. As if in slow motion, she collapsed first onto her knees and then onto her side, lying motionless on the floor.

For a moment, all Harley could do was to stand there with an expression of horror planted on his face. Then he slowly turned to look at Sonny Nicholas (who was shaking his sister and calling her name worriedly), glared fiercely at him and yelled, "This is all your fault, you freak! If you hadn't been born, your sister and I would have been together with no worries and this wouldn't have happened!"

Amy couldn't believe what she was witnessing. This manipulative, self-absorbed jerk of a psychopath had just murdered someone (albeit the wrong person) and he had the gall to blame somebody else? Feeling enraged, she summoned her hammer and tried to smash him to bits but to no avail as her weapon went right through him.

Then she noticed Sonny Nicholas' tearstained face staring at Harley and her outrage evaporated instantly, leaving grief in its place. She knelt down and attempted to hug him, crying, "No, Sonic!"

"No, Sonny Nicholas!" To her astonishment, someone else had said those words at the same time; Judith was still alive! She was clutching the surprised Sonny Nicholas' arm and was staring at him lovingly and sorrowfully.

"Don't listen…to him; this is…not your fault. He was the one…who stabbed me, not…you. I…I love you…my little brother."

Reaching down, she undid, from around her left ankle, a silvery, chained anklet with a small locket attached that Amy hadn't noticed before and pressed it into the child's hands.

Then, with her remaining strength, she pulled herself up to little Sonny Nicholas' ear and whispered just one word.

"Run."

Her eyes then closed and she let go of Sonny Nicholas' arm, falling back onto the floor.

For what seemed like an eternity, everyone was too stunned to speak. Then Sonny Nicholas started sniffling as he clasped the anklet around his right ankle, pulling his sock up to cover it. He stood up with a whimper, still staring forlornly with tear-filled eyes at his poor sister's body.

Harley made a motion to walk towards him. "Now, wait a…"

Wailing, the little hedgehog bowled Harley over as he ran out the door in a blur. The murderer moaned and lifted his head then swore as nearby sirens abruptly blared for a few seconds. The whole scene appeared to white out as a voice over a megaphone demanded that Harley come out and put his hands up…

* * *

Amy gasped and opened her eyes. Turning her head slightly, she saw Sonic still sleeping beside her. He seemed to be squirming and grimacing and mumbling incoherently. Slowly sitting up, she turned her gaze towards his sneakers, bent over and tugged the right sock down.

There was the anklet. So it wasn't just a nightmare, she thought, it was a memory that Sonic had passed on to her…probably thanks to the Chaos Emerald! Amy took hold of the attached locket and carefully opened it.

Inside it was a picture of baby Sonic, Judith as a kid and the two adults Amy had seen earlier in the photos on the wall who could only be their parents. All of them were smiling and the mother and father were gathered around Judith, who was cradling Sonic.

Amy closed the locket, slid the sock over the anklet again and gazed at Sonic in a whole new light.

What she had just witnessed… Could that be the reason Sonic wanted to avoid her? Was he reminded of his dear sister every time he saw Amy, heard Amy? Did he think it almost disturbing to fall in love with someone who was so much like his older sibling? Was his perception of love forever warped by what he had seen occur between Judith and Harley? Was he afraid that being close to her would only hurt her, just like what had seemed to happen with his sister?

Sonic had stopped stirring. His eyes opened then enlarged as he caught sight of Amy. He abruptly stood up but before he could run off, she said, in a voice thick with emotions:

"I'm so sorry about Judith."

The End


End file.
